Camping with Baby or Toddler

POSTED ON: April 10, 2015 TAGGED IN:

It’s that time of year again! Summer is almost upon us and people are gearing up to go camping. Whether it’s first time camping with baby or you’ve tried it a few times, there are heaps of details to think about.

1. Weather – Check the weather. If there’s going to be rain prepare for it with an extra tarp that you can easily rope up on trees and make sure you have a good ground cover so you aren’t sitting in mud and having baby crawl in mud. You can place a tarp over your tent too!

2. Invest in good rubber totes to store things out in the rain like toys and extra stuff you need to stash out of the car. You don’t want to have to keep everything covered up. To conserve space pack gear into duffles in car then stack the totes until you get to camp and you can pull out and load gear into it. These are also great to keep animals away!

3. Don’t overpack! It’s so easy to bring EVERYTHING. Think about what you really need and stick to that. Make a list and keep that list so every time you camp you can go through and check stuff off.

4. Keep camp food simple. I love pre-prepared food like pastas, meat in a bag that can be boiled and lots of fruit. Spinach salad holds up pretty well and is good for you. For finger food for mason pre-prepared meatballs work great and mac and cheese already made! Hardboiled eggs and string cheese are great snacks to tide a kid over until you are ready to eat.

5. Bring a way to contain your kiddo. Toddlers don’t take to you telling them not to go somewhere. Try a kiddogear harness on a rope tied between two trees which will allow your kiddo to run while you set up camp.

6. A big 8-man tent works AWESOME when you have a rainy day and need to stay in and play a bit. You can find these for $100-180 at placed like Walmart and Costco. String a second tarp overhead to help keep area around tent dry and allow you to pop out and keep shoes outside.

7. Don’t forget bug candles if you are in a buggy region! Citronella smells great at a campsite.

8. Remember to bring sun protection in case you end up in an exposed campground. There’s nothing harder than nappy a baby on a sunny day mid afternoon with no shade!!!

9. Bring a camp chair for you but remember toddler sized camp chair that a kid can easily climb into! This will help your kiddos stay put and feel part of the circle when sitting by a campfire. Also don’t forget a portable high chair for littles!

10. Burns are the number one kid injury camping! Be aware of campfires and really teaching little ones what fire is!

Shanti Hodges is the founder of Hike it Baby. She loves camping with her toddler Mason and her hubby Mark. They have camped all over California, Oregon, Washington and BC. She hopes they’ll make it to Utah camping this fall!

Shanti here and I am the founder of Hike it Baby. I think over the last few years I've spent more time outside on adventures post baby than I ever had before baby. It's my mission to convince the world that hiking is the best gateway into loving the outdoors and making friends. When not hauling Mason around on my back I can be found trying to convince him that walking forward is better than walking around in circles. One of my favorite things to do is to take a total NON-HIKER and show them that hiking is as simple as stepping out your door. It's especially rewarding to see someone's face light up when they have that "a-ha" moment in the woods and connect with the sounds of a creek bubbling and the birds singing on a beautiful sunny day. Read More by Shanti

Hike it Baby Supporters

Shanti here and I am the founder of Hike it Baby. I think over the last few years I've spent more time outside on adventures post baby than I ever had before baby. It's my mission to convince the world that hiking is the best gateway into loving the outdoors and making friends. When not hauling Mason around on my back I can be found trying to convince him that walking forward is better than walking around in circles. One of my favorite things to do is to take a total NON-HIKER and show them that hiking is as simple as stepping out your door. It's especially rewarding to see someone's face light up when they have that "a-ha" moment in the woods and connect with the sounds of a creek bubbling and the birds singing on a beautiful sunny day. Read More by Shanti